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Occupation of Bajor
The Occupation of Bajor (usually referred to simply as the Occupation) was a period from about 2319 to 2369 during which Bajor was under the control of the Cardassian Union. During the Occupation, the Cardassians perpetrated a coordinated scheme of strip-mining, forced labor, and genocide across the planet. Their brutality led to the deaths of more than ten million Bajorans. This eventually gave rise to the fierce Bajoran Resistance, which used guerrilla and terror tactics. The Cardassians eventually withdrew due to political pressure from the United Federation of Planets, as well as the Resistance's constant attacks. Prelude Prior to the Occupation, the Bajorans were a peaceful people whose art and architecture were well-known and admired throughout the galaxy. The Cardassians, by contrast, were a militaristic and often hostile people who had conquered numerous planets in the name of survival. The two peoples nonetheless managed to coexist peacefully for some time; however, the Cardassians coveted Bajor's rich natural resources and saw the Bajoran people as inferior. Cardassia became increasingly hostile as time went on, maintaining a military presence on the planet for ten years before forcibly annexing it in 2328. This travesty caused little galactic outcry, as most major powers were unaware of or unconcerned with Bajor's plight. Even the Federation was unable to interfere, as the Prime Directive forbade it; the occupation was considered an internal matter between Cardassia and a subject race. As the Cardassians were technologically almost a century ahead of the Bajorans, there was no warfare leading to the Occupation; the peaceful Bajoran people surrendered with little resistance. The Cardassians installed the Bajoran Occupational Government, essentially a puppet of the Cardassian Central Command intended to make the occupation look legitimate. In order to keep the Bajorans in line, Central Command also installed a prefect to oversee the planet. The last person to hold this post was the now-infamous Gul Dukat. Cardassian Rule When the Occupation began, it was the end of life as the Bajoran people formerly knew it. The D'jarra caste system, which had been an integral part of Bajoran culture for centuries, was abolished, as all Bajorans regardless of caste were called upon to struggle against Cardassian oppression. Vedeks were forbidden to preach the word of the Bajoran Prophets, and many such as Winn Adami were imprisoned for doing so. Further, the Cardassians strip-mined the planet, using Bajoran slave labor to perform the task. Secretary Kubus Oak and other officials of the occupational government routinely approved work orders forcing Bajorans to mine ore among other tasks. Such acts of cowardice gave way to a new term for those who participated with the Cardassians or used the Occupation as a source of profit: "collaborators." Not all Bajorans who profited from the Occupation were branded as collaborators, however. A smuggler named Ibudan was admired for smuggling much-needed medical supplies to Bajor, although he did so only to gouge his fellow Bajorans. Ibudan even let a young girl die because her family could not afford the drug that would have saved her life. Bajorans such as Ibudan were able to operate with relative freedom in many cases, as most Cardassian officers would look the other way if paid enough. After the Occupation, most Bajoran smugglers such as Razka Karn were reduced to buying and selling scrap metal. Part of the boom in black market dealings resulted from most external entities' refusal to sell to the Bajorans out of fear of Cardassian reprisal and a general belief that the Bajoran Resistance would fail. This was partially offset by the Ferengi bartender Quark and his willingness to sell items to the Bajorans at or just above cost, despite that doing so went against Ferengi values. Another notable exception to the rule was the weapons dealer Hagath and his associate, Quark's cousin Gaila. Hagath believed that the "big picture" of the situation – and having the future Bajoran government owe him a favor – was more important in the long run than which side had the bigger pocketbook, an arrangement which Gaila would later admit was, while almost heretical to a Ferengi, in fact good business. While he charged full price for his goods, Hagath's willingness to sell weapons to the Bajorans was reason enough for them to be grateful. One of the ultimate goals for the occupation, beyond strip-mining Bajor of its resources, was "full scale colonization" by Cardassian civilians. However, due to the persistent activity of the Bajoran resistance decade after decade, the planet was never sufficiently pacified to initiate this. As the years dragged on, Cardassian Central Command grew frustrated, and simply wanted the problem resolved, with no regard for what "methods" local commanders on Bajor used. The Cardassians used Bajoran women as "comfort women." These comfort women were often branded as collaborators by other Bajorans. Bajorans were assigned occupations more or less arbitrarily during the Occupation. The most common jobs were mining ore and working in factories, and once assigned to a job, a Bajoran was forbidden from leaving it. However, Cardassian officers often "selected" Bajorans for random interrogations or forced relocation. Any Bajoran with family or friends in the Bajoran Resistance was considered a suspect in criminal cases – which after 50 years of occupation was essentially all of Bajor. When a Bajoran was accused of a crime, his or her friends and family were often rounded up for questioning as well. There was virtually no court system, only special tribunals consisting of Cardassian military leaders. In the vast majority of cases, the evidence was circumstantial and questionable. This was of little importance to the Cardassians as long as someone was punished. Labour Camps The Cardassians interned entire families of Bajorans in labor camps for various purposes, the most common of which was to mine ore and other valuable resources. Conditions at these camps were so harsh that every Bajoran knew assignment to a labor camp was essentially a death sentence. The occupational government, however, continued to fulfill the Cardassians' requests for new laborers throughout the occupation. The most notorious of these camps was the Gallitep labor camp, where Gul Darhe'el ruled with an iron fist and routinely ordered his men to kill the laborers. Believing that their actions were justified in the name of the greater glory of Cardassia, men such as Darhe'el were responsible for turning the occupation into full-blown genocide. Justification based on the "greater glory of Cardassia" also led to workers at the labor camps often becoming subjects of morally unethical experimentation, as in the case of Doctor Crell Moset. Moset was a celebrated scientist who discovered a cure for the Fostossa virus; however, unbeknownst to most non-Bajorans, Moset found the cure by infecting hundreds of people so that he could experiment with different treatments. According to Starfleet records, Moset purchased many biochemical agents, including every known strain of the Fostossa virus, a typical procedure in the development of vaccines; however, he didn't ask for any of the enzymes normally required for synthesizing a vaccine. Four days after he received the virus samples there was a minor outbreak of Fostossa near his hospital. Prior to that date there had not been a single case in the entire province. Cardassian Withdrawal After fifty years of occupation, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor. The exact cause of the withdrawal is largely a matter of opinion; while the Bajorans attributed it to the efforts of the Bajoran Resistance, the Cardassians regarded it as an entirely political decision. Regardless of the cause, all sides acknowledge that civilian leaders such as those on the Detapa Council made the decision, which was opposed by the Cardassian military. Gul Dukat in particular remained intent on reconquering Bajor for over five years. Other Cardassian leaders were not willing to wait for revenge. Gul Darhe'el, furious about the withdrawal, ordered his soldiers to slaughter their Bajoran subordinates. His intention was to kill every last Bajoran at Gallitep, and while his actions were the exception rather than the rule, many Cardassian officers shared his sentiments. On Terok Nor, the Cardassians damaged as many of the space station's systems as they possibly could. They took every item of value, including all but a few photon torpedoes. The Bajoran Temple was badly damaged, as was the Promenade, where four Bajorans were killed trying to protect their shops. The Cardassians even removed the beds from the quarters and took the replicators offline. Much of the looting was out of hatred toward the Bajorans, although it was standard Cardassian procedure to booby trap and sabotage abandoned outposts. Many Cardassian children were left behind in the wake of the Occupation, since orphans had no status in Cardassian society. The Bajorans opened their hearts to these so-called war orphans, one of whom was named Rugal. The son of a prominent Cardassian politician, Rugal was left on Bajor in an elaborate plot by Gul Dukat to seize power. He was raised by an elderly Bajoran couple and taught to hate Cardassian "butchers", although he was later returned to his father's custody. Of particular note was the fact that the tailor Elim Garak became the sole Cardassian aboard Deep Space 9. Neither the Federation nor the Bajorans knew Garak's true motives for staying behind. While it was widely held that he was "the eyes and ears of his fellow Cardassians", Garak always managed to avoid questions about his past with his charming personality. He soon proved that there was more to "plain, simple Garak" than met the eye. It was later revealed that Garak had once been an agent of the Obsidian Order stationed aboard Terok Nor but was falsely accused of treason and sentenced to live out the rest of his life aboard what became Deep Space 9. Aftermath Bajor was in shambles after the Cardassian withdrawal and did not recover for many years. One of the first steps was the formation of the Bajoran Provisional Government, which was unstable at best. One of the few things virtually all Bajorans agreed upon was how to deal with those involved with the Occupation. A list of the most egregious Cardassian war criminals was assembled and the individuals on the list were condemned to death, although in practice most were never apprehended. Additionally, a list of collaborators was issued in the Ilvian Proclamation, all of whom were sentenced to exile. Those collaborators who escaped detection spent the rest of their lives trying to ensure that their misdeeds remained secret. Many Bajorans, particularly the terrorist group known as the Kohn-Ma, continued to fight Cardassia even after the withdrawal, which exacerbated an already chaotic situation. The question of how to re-integrate people such as Tahna Los, a hero of the Bajoran Resistance but a wanted criminal for his activities in the Kohn-Ma, was particularly difficult. As a result, many convicted criminals such as Ibudan were released from prison. In Constable Odo's words, "Cardassian rule may have been oppressive, but at least it was... simple." Several Cardassian actions were later part of negotiations and talks, such as the Paqu-Navot Treaty in 2369. The Valerians used to ship dolamide explosives during the occupation to the Cardassians. After the occupation this fact was still a possibility and Major Kira suggested that the Valerian transport Sherval Das, which tried to dock at Deep Space 9, did so. Keeping the Kohn-Ma and other such groups in line proved doubly difficult because the Cardassians often did not honor post-war agreements. Many Bajorans interned or imprisoned during the Occupation remained in Cardassian custody despite a promise by Central Command to release all prisoners. The most infamous case was the legendary resistance fighter Li Nalas, who was believed to be dead on Bajor but had been imprisoned on Cardassia IV for years before Major Kira Nerys and Chief Miles O'Brien rescued him. Others were conveniently discovered and released only when the Central Command needed political leverage. An uneasy alliance with the Federation complicated matters as Commander Benjamin Sisko attempted to balance Bajoran interests with those of the Federation. Major Kira felt that many Bajoran and Federation interests should be kept separate, sentiments shared by Tahna Los and later exploited by the anti-alien Alliance for Global Unity, which sought to expel all non-Bajorans from the planet. Tahna believed in Bajor for Bajorans, and like him, the Alliance (also known as the "Circle") saw the Federation presence aboard DS9 as another form of occupation. Tensions came to a climax when Minister Jaro Essa, leader of the Circle, attempted a full-scale coup d'etat in what was later discovered to be an elaborate Cardassian attempt to reclaim Bajor by ousting the Federation. Category:Bajoran Category:Occupations Category:Cardassian Union